Céline Roustan
Back in March 2020, “everything will be all right” was a weird sentence to toss around, as we really had no idea what we were about to face. As the world, and our individual lives, were about to drastically change, the uncertainty of the future made decision-making harder than usual, trapping us in a sort of immobility. Writer/director Farhad Pakdel captures this sense of uncertainty in the protagonist (Leila) of his short film Everything Will Be All Right, as she finds herself caught in a limbo between her own life in Montreal and the life of her family in Tunisia.
The global shutdown in March 2020 stands as the most collective experience of our generation, so it’s easy to understand the inspiration behind Pakdel’s film. However, anyone who is an immigrant, or has family in a different country, will find an extra level of relatability in this film. That alienation is part of the immigrant experience, but it was heightened during COVID restrictions, which made it much harder to go home. In Everything Will Be All Right, Leila has to navigate this exact situation, while also dealing with the lack of information we all encountered in early 2020.
Impressive in the way that it captures how time felt in those early days of COVID, Everything Will Be All Right expertly portrays how that uncertainty initially stopped us in our tracks, before the sudden onset of those restrictions. At first, Leila is unsure of the right course of action, with Pakdel adding complexity to the narrative by illustrating how she has built a comfortable life in Montreal. Going home isn’t as easy as it sounds, but this is a situation where she needs to make a quick decision.
Nahéma Ricci stars as Leila in Farhad Pakdel’s Everything Will Be All Right.
Also credited as the editor, Pakdel allows us time to get to know his main character as she navigates all the information being thrown her way. However, with the film focused on allowing us to truly experience events through Leila’s perception of time the pacing picks up towards the end, when an actual race against the clock begins. This shift in the edit injects the film with a sense of tension and authenticity, making it even more compelling.
In the lead role, Nahéma Ricci shines with the raw authenticity of her performance. She conveys, with great sensitivity, Leila’s inner turmoil as she finds herself wavering between states of confusion, fear and helplessness. Throughout the film, she remains incredibly compelling, while having to navigate these difficult decisions in such a distressed position. Watching her process the situation, in the scenes where nothing truly happens, was especially powerful, as she communicates so much with her eyes.
Everything Will Be All Right had its World Premiere at the 2022 (irl) edition of SXSW, and went on to be selected at multiple festivals including Mill Valley and Galway, ahead of its online premiere as a Vimeo Staff Pick. Pakdel is currently developing a feature film, A Cooler Horizon, that he is writing and will direct and is also working on another feature, The Tears of Things, as a producer.